Air temperature 19°C; track 20°C; wind 3.6m/s and it’s raining, so the race will start behind the Safety Car with everyone on wet (orange ring) tyres. They also won’t be allowed to use DRS
JA will start from the pit lane after some last minute changes to his car.

01/70 [SC]: The safety car leads away on the first lap (no formation lap)
JA exits the pit lane and joins the track behind JD – that could be a good move by Toro Rosso

02[SC]: Pit-car radio for FM warning him that they’re expecting heavy rain in 15-20 minutes

03[SC]: Pit-car from LH – he’s keen to get on with the race
General expectation is that McLaren set up their cars for a wet race, which is why they didn’t qualify quite so well

04[SC]: Safety Car in at the end of this lap
SV slows and backs up the pack, so he’s ready to boot it over the line

24[SC]: BBC confirm it’s still raining heavily with no sign of easing up
Forecast is 20 more minutes of this downpour
Pit-car from JB saying very poor visibility
Looks like the rain is getting heavier!

25/70[SC]: Red flag – race suspended
Cars will line up on the grid
There’ll be a 10 minute warning before the restart

Some drivers are out of their cars
BBC interview LH – JB was slow out of the corner … oh, thanks TSN for cutting away! 🙁

Marshals bring LH’s McLaren back to the pits – tow truck is clearly driven by a local because the front wing of the McLaren is bouncing off the track!

Forecast says no let up in the rain until 2:45pm … well, it’s 2:45 and it’s still pouring, so no sign of a restart yet
Pit-car radio for NK says they don’t expect a restart for at least 30mins

Tweet from Mike Gascoyne: “Rain definitly easing now and starting to get brighter, in fact nearly stopped” [sic]

BBC say the rain has virtually stopped … and there’s a cheer from the crowd 🙂
Sounds like a couple of engines firing up – hopefully we’ll get the 10 minute warning soon

Another Tweet from Mike Gascoyne: “Next heavy shower in 15 mins, but this is only a shower, the front has passed over”

Official update: Race will be resumed at 15:50; all cars must be fitted with wet tyres for the restart.

5mins to the restart; small shower as the teams strap the drivers in and make sure the cars are ready to go
Pit-car for FM says the shower should only last for 5mins

28/70[SC]: Doesn’t appear to be too many puddles – marshals have cleared a lot of the standing water – but there’s still lots of spray and therefore poor visibility

29/70[SC]: Slow moving Lotus – it’s HK – sounds like lots of revs but not much movement
Pit-car radio tells HK to pit

30/70[SC]: HK makes it to the pits and is pushed into the garage

32/70[SC]: Looking like the Safety Car should be in soon
Pit-car for JB asking him if it’s safe to start; JB says it’s about there
Looks like there’s even some sunshine braking through

34/70[SC]: JD pits – inters
SC in at the end of this lap
Pit-car for JB saying there’s only a few more laps on wets and then it’s time to switch to inters
Lights off on the SC
SV starts backing everyone up and then bolts out of the chicane, trying to lose KK

35/70: FM attacks KK into Turn 1 but KK keeps P2
MS and AS pit for inters, as do TG, RB and SB

36: NH, JB JA and PM all pit
Drive through penalty for JD for incorrect tyres – he swapped to inters before the SC came in
AS cuts across the grass but stays out of trouble

37: FM and FA both pit – FA has to wait – unsafe release of FM but they won’t be penalised, they never are 🙁
FA has spun the Ferrari and beached it on the kerbs
Safety Car deployed again!
JB has a puncture – was there contact?

38/70[SC]: SV pits for inters
Replay: JB was up the inside of FA; FA turns in and makes contact; spins the Ferrari but damages the front left of the McLaren
JB pits for new inters and a replacement nose cone

48: SV f/lap 1:28.105
Pit-car for FM telling him he tried to activate DRS too soon which is why it didn’t work for him on the previous lap
Incident involving cars 8 and 14 (NR & AS) under investigation

54: SV pits for super-softs – rejoins still in P1
Replay shows FM was passing an HRT car, on the wet track, slid into the barriers but kept it facing forward
JB f/lap 1:22.759
MW attacking MS into the final chicane but outbrakes himself

55/70: SV, MS, MW, JB, KK, NH, VP, RB, JA, NR
MW f/lap 1: 21.887

56: JB f/lap 1:20.513
NH runs into the rear of KK, brakes his front wing, slides into the barrier and down the escape road
Lots of debris on the road

57[SC]: Safety Car deployed

59[SC]: Still lots of debris from NH’s accident
Marshal fell over in the middle of the track – VP brakes hard to avoid him!

60/70[SC]: SV, MS, MW, JB, KK, VP, RB, JA, NR, PM
Safety Car in the end of this lap
Pit-car from JB asking about the age of the tyres on the cars ahead of him
SC lights off; SV backs everyone up; hammers it out of the hairpin; MS sticking to his tail

61: SV has opened a small gap over MS, who now has MW on his gearbox … who in turn has JB right behind him
Remember: no DRS for 2 laps after the SC pits

62: SV continues to pull away as the next 3 cars battle over P2

63: PM has stopped just after a pit stop

64: MW passes MS into the last corner but cuts across the grass
MW gives P2 back to MS but manages to keep JB behind him
MW cuts the final chicane again

65/70: MW’s out of shape out of the final turn; JB steals P3 while MW tries to stay out of the wall
JB’s now all over MS’s gearbox now
JB gets to use DRS and storms past MS 🙂

66: MW now pressuring MS again

67: MS takes a lot of kerb as he tries to keep MS behind him
JB f/lap 1:17.967 – that’s 1.5sec faster than SV
SV might be saved because we’ll run out of time before the final lap